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Monday, 2 September 2013

August 2013 Film Round-up

I stopped reviewing every film I watch towards the end of July and have gone from 30+ to (last month) four reviews a month. While I haven't really missed writing about the movies I've seen, I wanted to make sure I at least wrote something about every single one so that I could keep some sort of fluidity in my blog. So here are my very brief opinions of the films I've seen since I stopped reviewing everything.

July

Rebel Without a Cause

James Dean can’t play a teen. Great acting, interesting,
super cool. 8/10

Maniac

Better than the average slasher. Interesting. Far too
grizzly for me. 5/10

Double Indemnity

Quintessential Noir. Beautifully made, gripping. 8/10

Frances
Ha

A cross between French New Wave and Woody Allen. Annoying at
first but I warmed to it. It made me want to live the BoHo life. 7/10

Loud. I’m still unsure if I liked it but I was gripped.
Borrows heavily from Park Chan-wook. Would work as a silent movie. I worry that
the talented Gosling is limiting himself to roles which are too similar.
Kristin Scott-Thomas is award worthy. Too violent for me in places. 7/10

A near perfect end to what has become one of my favourite
trilogies of all time. All pre screening nerves went away after the opening
scene. Wonderfully written and brilliantly acted, a fitting conclusion (?) to
the eighteen year arc. Although initially sceptical, the additional characters
added more than I ever could have imagined. 10/10

Benny and June

A mediocre film in every aspect bar one performance. Johnny
Depp shows what bought him to the attention of Hollywood with a nuanced and sweet portrayal
of a guy all women want to mother. Some great physical comedy in the vein of
Buster Keaton. 6/10

Elysium

Half a great movie with some interesting and pertinent
ideas. It looks fantastic but gets bogged down in unnecessary action towards
the end meaning that it ends up as a ‘seen it all before’ type of film. 6/10

2 Days in Paris

My second watch in less than six months. Loved it just as
much this time around. (Read my full review here) 9/10

Lovelace

A deeply depressing film with a nice twist in its narrative
structure. Amanda Seyfried is brilliant but the film only seems to skim along
the surface and if you pardon the pun, doesn’t go deep enough. 6/10

The Way, Way Back

Nothing new and nothing surprising but it captures the
awkward teenage years well and gets great performances out of Steve Carell, Sam
Rockwell and Allison Janney. 7/10

Jurassic
Park

Still looking good after twenty years and the action beats
most modern blockbusters hands down. (Read my full review here) 10/10

1 comment:

Very cool list of movies there Tom. Yeah Kick Ass 2 wasn't as good as the first one. Loved Before Midnight very much Was kinda skeptical of Frances Ha and Only God Forgives, but will give those movies a look. What no love for Sharknado. lol